Crystallisation of palm olein under the influence of sucrose esters

This work studied the effects of three sucrose esters (S170, P170 and L195) on the crystallisation of palm olein (PO). The effect of the emulsifiers on the crystallisation behaviour, crystallisation curves, microstructure and polymorphism was investigated. Both S170 and P170 accelerated the early stages, via template effects, but suppressed the later stages of PO crystallisation. The effect on the latter stages was stronger with P170 than S170. In contrast, L195 suppressed PO crystallisation at all time points. Through DSC, S170 and P170 only associated with the high-melting fraction of PO whereas L195 showed little influence. All SEs exhibited no effect on polymorphism. S170 and P170 greatly reduced PO crystal size but increased crystal number while the L195 increased the crystal size but decreased the crystal number especially at low concentration. Overall, S170, P170 and L195 influence PO crystallisation kinetics but the effect was dependent on the emulsifier concentration.